Government to make India one of the top military equipment manufacturers

• The government is likely to unveil a major policy next month outlining a roadmap to build a robust defence production industry and make India one of the top five manufacturers of military equipment and platforms in the next 10 years. Official sources said the final touch is being given to the policy before it is being placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.

• They said a significant focus of the defence production policy (DPP-2018) will be to invest adequate resources to develop critical technology for manufacturing state-of-the-art military platforms including fighter jets, attack helicopter and weaponry indigenously.

• According to the draft policy, the government is looking at achieving a turnover of Rs 1,70,000 crore in military goods and services by 2025.

• Officials said the aim of the DPP would be to indigenously develop all major platforms which are being imported since in the last six decades.

• According to official figure, India inked 187 contracts worth Rs 2.40 lakh crore with foreign and domestic firms for various military equipment and weapons in the last four years. However, the majority of the projects are yet to take off due to procedural delays.

• The DPP is also likely to simplify the procurement process by cutting several layers of approval which often cause delays.

• The policy aims to make India one of the top five manufacturers of defence platforms with an active participation of public and private sectors.